The Executive Director National Medical Stores (NMS) Moses Kamabare has denied allegations of inflated prices of cancer medicine and asked that such questions should be directed to the National Drug Authority, (NDA).
Recently, NTV carried a story that the Auditor General’s report indicates that NMS supplies cancer medicines at inflated prices, the organization caused a financial loss of 2 billion shillings in the 2015/16 financial year on Anti-cancer medicines, NMS has kept the Uganda Cancer institute (UCI) budget at 7 billion, and that the organization supplies poor quality medicines to UCI.
But Kamabare argues that all medicines imported by NMS are cleared by the National Drug authority as mandated by law, that NMS has no role in allocation of resources to Uganda Cancer Institute or any government entity and that all quality (drugs) complaints are therefore supposed to be addressed by National Drug Authority.
“Some of us doubt that report exists...the public is therefore urged to ignore that report. NMS cannot take part in activities that are fraudulent...all activities of NMS are transparent as we've proved” Kamabare noted.
He explains that the cost of USFDA approved medicines is much higher than the cost of medicines of other quality standards, while Erlotinib 150mg tabs, which USFDA approved on the Ugandan market is not 1 million shillings, but 10,510,000 shillings.
Kamabare says the alleged loss of 2 Billion shillings is a misconception of comparing prices of different quality standards.
He maintains that NMS has not received from, or been advised by the Internal Auditor General, of the existence of the alleged draft report.
“As mentioned we do not know whom the authors are (of report) it is only NTV that alleged. That is why we cannot hold anybody responsible not even NTV” he said.
According to the ED, the organization always works to fit into the budget that is available to them. “We cannot (procure) outside the budget given. There are always cheaper alternatives, let they be antimalarials or cancer drugs.”
“There is nothing that anybody is fighting for, we do not want any piece of Uganda Cancer Institute. This year alone the budget given to us by Parliament is about UGX. 270Bn.”
